Slipping Away
by The Almighty Leprechaun
Summary: "Dad." A little voice tugged at the large man's attention, breaking frigid silence between the monotone chirps of Maggie Dursley's heart monitor. "Dad!" He heard once more, and finally he realized that his eldest daughter was calling his name...Dudley reached over and grabbed the thick envelope sealed with red wax...As the realization hit, the father's heart sank. Oneshot.


**Okay it's been an eternity since I've published anything. School has been hectic. This was just a little think I came up with last week and I couldn't resist not sharing it. I hope it's okay I'm quite rusty. All I've been writing lately is boring research papers and essays. AP lang is going to be the death of me. This is the first Harry Potter thing I've posted I hope it's okay. Please let me know what you think.**

**I don't own the characters. **

"_Dad_." A little voice tugged at the large man's attention, breaking frigid silence between the monotone chirps of Maggie Dursley's heart monitor.

"Dad!" He heard once more, and finally his sleep-deprived mind realized that his eldest daughter was calling his name.

"Yes dear? What is it?" Dudley managed to say after a yawn. He tore his gaze away from his ailing wife for this first time in hours and glanced over at the small blonde sitting in the plastic chair next to his.

Young Katherine had tears in the corners of her bright green eyes as she looked up at her father. He was so massive compared to her tiny pale frame she had to almost crane her neck to get a good enough look at him.

"Is-is Mummy gonna be alright?" the brave ten-year-old fought the fear shaking in her voice. Like her mother, she was too courageous to cry.

Dudley quickly reverted his stare back to Maggie so his eldest daughter would not see the tears threatening to spring from his own eyes.

He didn't know how to answer her question. He didn't know how to tell Katherine the fate of her poor mother. Maggie was always the one that was good with words. She would've known how to deliver the horrible news gently, but Dudley could not bring himself to.

"I don't know, Love," he lied. His voice was rough and distant, but held a soft, endearing edge. He hated lying to his sweet little girl, but no child should have to be told what he would have to tell her.

The father took a deep breath and clenched his fists in an attempt to cool his anger as the memory of the previous night resurfaced. He would never forget the grim look on the doctor's face as she explained his beloved's prognosis. Her words sliced though him like daggers through butter. There was nothing they could do to save Margret Rose Dursley. Now there was only a short matter of time that remained before the love of his life slipped away forever.

Maggie was the strongest woman he had ever met. Dudley never would have thought he'd be the one forced to say goodbye. He'd always dreamed of them raising their two kids and then eventually retiring to a small cottage of the countryside. But those dreams had been crushed long before he had received the final prognosis. The young father of two had never been a particularly intelligent man; Maggie had the brains, but deep down he knew his wife was slipping away long before the devastating diagnosis.

There was nothing he could've done to save his precious wife he kept thinking as he stared at they dying woman in the sterile, lifeless room. But no amount of excuses could dull the inevitable anger that boiled up inside his massive chest. Sometimes he was mad at the doctors; sometimes he was mad a Maggie, but usually he was just angry with himself. Dudley was the one who could not save his wife no matter how hopeless her situation was.

Dudley was a strong, beefy man that had a way of getting what he wanted. Though he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, he was successful. Now he was helpless, vulnerable and scared. He didn't know how to face the world without his precious wife by his side.

A cold sensation prying at his clenched fingers stirred Dudley out of his deep thoughts. The father looked down to see his eldest attempt to pull his massive hand apart in order to fit her own into his palm. He relaxed and tried to muster a slight smile.

"It's going to be okay, Daddy." Katherine told him, but she did not sound convinced of her own words.

Dudley just squeezed her hand and nodded. He felt too guilty to say any more. Katherine was a smart girl though; he could tell she had seen through his lies.

The pace of the monitor chirps that resonated through the sterile room began to slow. It wasn't something that Dudley immediately noticed, but he'd been sitting there long enough to know things were going down hill.

The soon to be single father of two took a deep breath and looked over to his eldest child. Her blond hair was carefully twisted into braided pigtails and she wore her usual jeans, blouse and converse. Maggie's time was drawing near. His kids had to know.

"Darling, will you go find your brother?" He whispered softly, unable to meet his daughter's eyes.

A single rogue tear spilled from the ten-year-old's eyes as she nodded silently. Katherine quickly brushed away any sign of emotion with a swipe of her sleeve and burst out the door in search of her brother, Pete. The cold metal door slammed in her wake, startling Dudley.

Once he quickly got over the sudden start something in the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. It was a sealed envelope that sat on top of the pile of unopened letters and bills that one of his neighbors brought to the hospital. Dudley had not bothered to go through the mail and had not spared it a second glance earlier. Though, this time, the peculiar cream envelope stuck out like a sore thumb.

Dudley reached over and grabbed the thick envelope sealed with red wax. It was addressed to Katherine, but he found it strange for someone to send his daughter such a thing. There was something familiar about it to the young man. It did not take him long to realize the letter's resemblance to the hundreds his cousin had received more than twenty years before.

As the realization hit, the father's heart sank. Though he was not upset that his daughter was on of those magical folk, like Harry. Dudley was sad because he was not only going to lose Maggie, but he was going to also going to lose his sweet Katherine as well.

He discarded the unopened letter onto the plastic chair next to him. He would let Katherine open it eventually. At a complete loss, the desperate father turned to his silent dying wife for advice. This time he did not bother to stop his tears.

"Maggie, how am I going to do this without you?" He muttered under his breath. The father's posture was one of defeat. "How can I send our baby girl out into the world?"

Margret Dursley remained unresponsive. Dudley could feel that her end was near as the chirps continued to decline. He gently kissed his wife's cold hand and brushed away the tears streaking down his blotchy, pale face. _"Sleep peacefully, love."_

**Is it alright? Or is it really horrible? I havent written anything recently and I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing fanfiction. It's a good writing practice for me. Please let me know how I did. I'm a firm believer that there is always room for improvement so let me know what you think. Please be kind. I accept criticism but I ask if that is the case that you are polite. I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot. **


End file.
